Stagecoach working with visually impaired organisations

Stagecoach East held a round-table discussion with representatives from the region’s blind and partially sighted community.

The group included representatives from Bedfordshire Sight Loss Council, Sight Concern Bedfordshire, Camsight, Healthwatch Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, LOOK, and RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People). They met with Stagecoach East to consider issues such as access, safety, the implications of electric buses and giving feedback.

Moreover, since the round-table, plans have started to be put in place for drop-in days where people with sight loss will come to local bus depots to talk with Stagecoach East colleagues, and ‘swap with me’ days where colleagues will get an appreciation of how it is to live as a blind or partially sighted person.

“…we should always be prepared to listen because there will always be things to learn, and there are certainly some very important messages that I will take away from this discussion” – Ian de Chastelain, Training Manager of Stagecoach East

Ian de Chastelain, Training Manager of Stagecoach East, said: “I firmly believe that we already do a huge amount of good work in how we welcome people with sight loss onto our services – our drivers and the whole team are proud to serve our local communities, and work very hard to do so.

“However, we should always be prepared to listen because there will always be things to learn, and there are certainly some very important messages that I will take away from this discussion.”

“It was great to work collaboratively with other national and local charities across the region to have discussions with a number of teams at Stagecoach East” – Samantha Leftwich, Engagement Manager – East at the Thomas Pocklington Trust

Samantha Leftwich, Engagement Manager – East at the Thomas Pocklington Trust agreed: “It was great to work collaboratively with other national and local charities across the region to have discussions with a number of teams at Stagecoach East. We already have plans to work with Stagecoach East to raise awareness of living with a vision impairment with their staff and drivers through ‘Swap With Me’ events and starting conversations with staff through pop-up and drop-in events at their depots.

“Stagecoach East have been great at engaging with us and we look forward to continuing our work across the region working collaboratively to improve services for blind and partially sighted people.”